Not One of the Guys
by OPYKJ
Summary: Jack's tried really hard to treat her like one of the guys. But, in the end, Sam never was.
1. 1- Minor Penalties

**Roughing**

The first time, it's not his fault. If he was still playing hockey, what he'd done would be considered a minor penalty. At most. There were extenuating circumstances after all.

"Colonel, would you mind?" Dr Fraiser is standing behind Carter who's biting her lower lip and doesn't look too good. Jack would love to help, but he doubts his assistance would be appreciated.

"You'll feel better soon," he says lamely.

Carter gives him a weak smile and a 'Thank you, sir,' except the 'sir' ends up in a half-strangled moan as the good doc probes the offending shoulder.

Jack leaves the infirmary so Carter can't see him flinch, and heads for the briefing room.

**###**

"What happened on that planet? You were gone for less than twenty minutes." Hammond has his dour face on. The one that says 'I'll get to the bottom of this.'

"Nothing much happened," Jacks says, playing with a pen he's found on the table. "We went through, didn't see zilch with the rain, and some Jaffa jumped us. There were too many of them for us to argue, so we came home."

Hammond's jaw moves.

"The Jaffa came out of nowhere. We had no chance of getting through. I shouted at Daniel to dial back home, and I pushed him through the gate first while Carter and Teal'c were covering us. Then I did the same with Carter."

"Colonel! Captain Carter came out flying."

Keeping his eyes fixed on the pen, Jack wonders how much it can bend before breaking.

"Doctor Jackson, I hope you can bring some sense into this story."

Jack doesn't need to look up to guess Daniel is pushing his glasses up his nose. "Well, it happened pretty much the way Jack said. We came under fire, and he told me to dial home. By the time I got to the gate, the Jaffa were getting close. All I saw when I came through was Sam hitting the deck hard behind me."

"Teal'c?"

"Doctor Jackson summarised the situation well. As the Jaffa were rapidly approaching, I saw O'Neill grab Doctor Carter like he had done with Doctor Jackson, and push her through the gate. We followed a few seconds later. When we arrived, Doctor Jackson was rendering assistance to Doctor Carter."

"See! Nothing to it."

Hammond's tone is not that of a happy camper. "Captain Carter slammed into the platform so hard that she dislocated her shoulder. According to Dr Frasier, she'll be off duty for two weeks minimum before she's fit to travel again, while none of you suffered any injuries. So, for the last time, what—"

The pen snaps, and Jack's left with two pointy pieces of plastic in his hands. Typical. "I'm sorry, sir. I thought she was one of the guys."

Hammond shakes his head, frowning. "Do you object so much to Captain Carter being on your team? if you can't work together, I'll have to relocate her to another SG team. And I would much prefer not to do that."

"No, no. It's not that." Jack is horrified at the idea of losing his second-in-command. That's the last thing he wants. The whole thing was an accident, pure and simple. "It's just...When I got her through the gate. Between the BDU and the rain gear, I…forgot."

"You forgot? Forgot what, Colonel?" The General's face is getting the shade of red that means he is close to losing his cool.

"That she's not one of my men. I mean, she is, but—"

"You didn't just push her." Daniel is smiling one of his gentle 'I-think-I-understand' smiles, and Jack isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad one. "You tossed her through the gate, same you did with me. Except that I'm what? Thirty pounds heavier?"

The tension in Jack's back and neck threatens to see him go to the infirmary. "Yeah. Put too much force into it. That's why she landed badly."

"I see," Hammond says, with a sigh that sounds very much like he would have liked to stay retired.

Jack can't blame him. Barely two weeks since SG1 was formed, and he's already injured one of the most important people in the entire SGC. "Look. I'm sorry, sir."

"It's not me you should be apologising to, son."

"I have no doubt Doctor Carter understands the circumstances of her inauspicious arrival," Teal'c says in the calm voice of his.

Daniel pats Jack on the arm. "Yes, I'm sure she forgives you."

Jack hopes so. Because he sure as hell feels bad about what he's done to one of his team.

* * *

**Unsportsmanlike conduct**

Jack has run out of permutation by the third night. He's got a mutiny on his hands if he orders Sam to share the other two-man tent with Daniel again. Thankfully Teal'c volunteers, because there's no way Jack is staying awake all night listening to Daniel's snoring either.

But that leads to a second problem Jack has not anticipated. Well, he had after the night before. Which is why he's tried every permutation so far, but with only four people and two tents, that hasn't gotten him far. After all, it's their first overnight mission as a team. A team of four. A team of three men and one woman. And two tents. And it's raining, of course. God, he hates the rain.

"Okay, Carter. Tonight, you're with me."

"Yes, sir," comes the professional response he's come to expect from his 2IC.

"Good. I'll take first watch. You take second. Teal'c third, then Daniel."

"Yes, sir."

Nothing to it. As it should be.

The local fauna remains silent despite Daniel's efforts at waking up the neighbourhood, and Jack's watch goes quickly enough. Carter is already out of the tent by the time he comes back from his round.

"All is quiet," he tells her. "Let's keep it that way."

A soft chuckle emerges from the darkness. "I'll do my best, sir."

Two hours is just long enough to fall asleep, dream something he can't remember and wake up when Carter comes back inside. He's ready to say something when he realises she's undressing. So he freezes, his eyes desperately trying not to watch, and failing miserably. She must think he's sound asleep as she makes no great efforts at hiding what she's doing. Not that there's much room to hide anything or anybody in the small tent. The BDU jacket is the first to go, then the shirt underneath. He thinks, he hopes, she'll stop at the T-shirt, but nope, she takes that off too, her chest silhouetted against the light of the moon reaching through the tent wall.

Yep, she's definitely not one of the guys. Overnight missions are going to be a logistical nightmare.

Finally, she gets into her sleeping bag. He relaxes and closes his eyes.

He almost jumps when he hears a soft, "Good night, sir."

There's a smile in her voice, and he can't help a grin of his own. They'll be okay after all.


	2. 2- Major Penalties

**Deliberate injury**

Nursing a beer, he takes in the night outside the front window. There's something comforting in listening to the drumming of the cars passing by, the dogs barking in the distance, the neighbour's TV turned a bit too loud. The day-to-day stuff that reminds him why he's been doing what he does for too many years.

Tonight, all he wants is to be home. Out of the SGC, away from computer-like alien entities.

Because he'd shot her.

And yeah, he's saved her too. But that's hardly the point.

The last gulp of beer slides nicely down the throat. He walks to the kitchen without bothering to put the lights on and opens the fridge door. The bright illumination makes him feel sick.

She's standing all dressed in white, arms extended, flashes of energy flowing from her fingers tips towards the walls.

He returns to the couch, checking the front door as he walks past.

It's not like he had a choice.

He snorts. Sounds like the entity speaking.

It's not like it was _her_ he'd shot. Her face was hard, unflinching, just big blue eyes looking at the enemy when all _he_ could see was _her_.

One doesn't recover from being shot twice with a zat, except when one's mind has been implanted in a computer, it seems. But he did not know that then, and he'd shot her.

The third empty bottle goes flying into the bin. Straight dunk.

He hasn't talked to her since. Well, he's talked to the major, and the major has thanked him for saving her life. Fancy that. The entity must have fried a few of her brain cells when it finally left her.

He checks the front door again, expecting her to come to his house when she wakes up to the fact she's got very little to thank him for. But she's not coming, and tomorrow, he'll go through the whole rigmarole of treating her like she's just another member of his team. One of the guys.

Except he's never shot one of his men before, and she'd better be careful he doesn't do that to her again.

* * *

**Distracting**

He watches her as she sleeps.

He doesn't know what he's told her up there, in that flying steel box that almost became her tomb. He hopes he was useful. Supportive. He hates to think he might have helped her list her failures instead. Reminded her of times she would prefer not to remember. She doesn't always trust she's done the right thing.

She's told Daniel that she'd seen the three of them. Teal'c first, then Daniel. He came in late. He wants to think it's because she kept him for the end. For when she was nearly spent, ready to give up. When she thought she was going to die. Although he doesn't do comfort too well, so he doesn't expect he was that much of a solace to her. They probably talked about cake or something. Cake is safe. He hopes Daniel will get one with lots of cream frosting for when she leaves the infirmary.

She frowns and shakes her head in her sleep. He's suffered enough concussions in his life to know she'll wake up with a massive headache.

Alone in space. Stuck on the _Prometheus_. Injured. The crew gone. That would give anybody the jitters.

But she got herself and the ship out of the nebula and back on track home, saved the crew and made a friend. Well, that last part is questionable, but even Daniel was impressed. He's always one for talking to aliens. At least, that other ship does not seem to have followed the _Prometheus_, so Earth is secure too. Not bad for a major left behind on a ship bigger than a navy cruiser.

He hopes the powers that be won't want to keep her up there, though. Colonel Ronson would be within his right to ask for her to be his 2IC. Maybe that's what she needs to do now. Wants to do. A degree in theoretical astrophysics would be more useful up in space than going through another hundred stargates.

She mumbles something, but he can't catch the words. Concussions can make your mind go into strange directions. He trusts he didn't do or say anything that she would have been uncomfortable with, even if he was only a figment of her imagination.

She deserves a life. She can't be one of the guys forever.

Her breathing softens, and he waits for her to wake up. He'll wait for as long as she needs him.

* * *

**Interference**

One would think the universe is going to collapse the way he makes a fuss about her, brings her the latest issue of Astrophysics Today, replaces her coffee cup when it gets cold, and fluffs up the cushions behind her back.

"It's only a broken leg," she says, amused at his domestic antics.

"The doc said you shouldn't walk on it for the next couple of weeks at least."

"It's not the first I've had, you know."

"I don't really need to know that. You could have died in that mine."

"McKay was with me, and Dr Keller."

"McKay," he snorts.

"Oh, come on. He's all right, in a fashion. He tries hard to be part of the team."

Jack has got a strange look on his face.

"What?" she asks. They've been together, as in _really_ together—no more 'sir' and 'Carter'—ever since he's moved to Washington. Sometimes though, like now, he looks at her like he's not sure if she's for real.

"Nothing."

"Tell me." She gives him one of her big smiles that makes him melt right in front of her. "Jack?"

"It's just…" He leans over, carefully avoiding jarring her injured leg, and gives her a light kiss. "I'm really glad _you_ were never one of the guys, Sam."

* * *

My thanks to noonebutusgalliformes for the beta.


End file.
